Massachusetts

Taxing the rich is proven fiscal policy – it raises revenue for vital public services and makes tax codes fairer. But a part of the debate that rarely gets enough attention: taxing the rich is also one of the most effective tools available for advancing racial equity.

This new tool describes 28 ways the Commonwealth could generate substantial new revenue in a manner that would fall least heavily on people with the least ability to pay.

Sixteen states provide Child Tax Credits to reduce poverty, boost economic security, and invest in children. State lawmakers have several options to maximize the impact of Child Tax Credits.

This fall, voters across the country will consider a host of ballot measures that could reshape the fairness and adequacy of their states’ tax systems. Here’s some of what we’re following.

The QSBS exclusion allows investors who buy stock in a “qualified business” to write off as much as 100 percent of their capital gains when they sell that stock, in some cases delivering millions of dollars in tax breaks. 

Below is a list of tax expenditure reports published in the states.

It's the first official week of summer, and while many of us are planning vacations, state lawmakers remain busy finalizing and debating tax proposals.

As we head into summer, many state legislatures are in the final stretches of their sessions. Rhode Island moved another step closer to joining the ranks of Washington, Maine, and Hawai’i in enacting a new high-income surcharge this year.

From surcharges on the income of high-earners to higher taxes on second homes, here are recent steps states have taken to tax the rich.

ITEP tracks tax discussions in legislatures across the country and uses our unique data capacity to analyze the revenue, distributional, and racial and ethnic impacts of many of these proposals. State Tax Watch offers the latest news and movement from each state.

Voters, lawmakers, researchers, and advocates frequently disagree about ideal tax policy. But the facts here speak for themselves.

The Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center (MassBudget) proposes that the state opts out the five most costly federal corporate tax cuts made in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Read more.

As state legislative sessions ramp up across the country, property taxes are one of many issues dominating tax policy conversations in statehouses.

The proposed ballot question to cut the Massachusetts state income tax would not just force deep cuts to investment in public programs and infrastructure. Its benefits are also highly skewed towards households with the highest incomes. Read more.  

They should take steps to protect and boost their own revenues. And they should take a second look at their own tax cuts.

2025 saw an intensification of state and local tax fights across the country, as well as growing experimentation with local-option taxes, levies, fees, and tourism taxes aimed at keeping budgets afloat while also navigating political constraints imposed by state legislatures.

This proposal would disrupt the state’s housing market and jeopardize local revenues while doing very little to help workers and families struggling to pay their property tax bills – just as Prop 13 did in California.

The Opportunity Zones program benefits wealthy investors more than it benefits disadvantaged communities.

Taxing the proceeds generated by wealth through a new Wealth Proceeds Tax is a simple way for states to raise billions in new revenue and improve the fairness of their tax systems.

Local governments have a critical role to play in reducing child poverty. Local Child Tax Credits could provide large tax cuts to families at the bottom of the income scale, lessening the overall regressivity of state and local tax systems.

State and local officials are staying very busy by considering a dizzying amount of reversals.

Some states are trying to avoid revenue loss while others are welcoming it and doubling down.

Child Tax Credits (CTCs) are effective tools to bolster the economic security of low- and middle-income families and position the next generation for success.

The Trump megabill hands the richest 1% a trillion-dollar windfall while gutting funding for health care, education, and disaster relief — leaving communities to pick up the pieces. State and local leaders must step up, tax the wealthiest fairly, and safeguard the essentials that keep America healthy, educated, and safe.